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Basic Financial Instruments
Note: The IASB is currently reconsidering IAS 39 in its entirety and concluded that SMEs should have the same accounting policy options as in IAS 39 pending completion of the comprehensive IAS 39 project.
| SME Par. | IFRS SME | U.S. GAAP |
|---|---|---|
| Financial instruments are considered either “basic” or other. | ||
| Scope of this section | ||
| 11.1 | Section 11 Basic Financial Instruments and Section 12 Other Financial Instruments Issues together deal with recognising, derecognising, measuring and disclosing financial instruments (financial assets and financial liabilities). Section 11applies to basic financial instruments and is relevant to all entities. Section 12applies to other, more complex financial instruments and transactions. If anentity enters into only basic financial instrument transactions then Section 12 isnot applicable. However, even entities with only basic financial instruments shallconsider the scope of Section 12 to ensure they are exempt. | |
| Accounting policy choice | ||
| 11.2 | An entity shall choose to apply either:
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This document does not address differences between IAS 39 and U.S. GAAP. |
| Introduction to Section 11 | ||
| 11.3 | A financial instrument is a contract that gives rise to a financial asset of one entity and a financial liability or equity instrument of another entity. | |
| 11.4 | Section 11 requires an amortised cost model for all basic financial instruments except for investments in non-convertible and non-puttable preference shares and non-puttable ordinary shares that are publicly traded or whose fair value can otherwise be measured reliably. | See Section 11.14-11.20 |
| 11.5 | Basic financial instruments within the scope of Section 11 are those that satisfy the conditions in paragraph 11.8. Examples of financial instruments that normally satisfy those conditions include:
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U.S. GAAP does not distinguish basic financial instruments from other financial instruments. |
| 11.6 | Examples of financial instruments that do not normally satisfy the conditions in paragraph 11.8, and are therefore within the scope of Section 12, include:
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U.S. GAAP does not distinguish basic financial instruments from other financial instruments. |
| Scope of Section 11 | ||
| 11.7 | Section 11 applies to all financial instruments meeting the conditions of paragraph 11.8 except for the following:
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| Basic financial instruments | ||
| 11.8 | An entity shall account for the following financial instruments as basic financial instruments in accordance with Section 11:
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| 11.9 | A debt instrument that satisfies all of the conditions in (a)–(d) below shall be accounted for in accordance with Section 11:
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| 11.10 | Examples of financial instruments that would normally satisfy the conditions in paragraph 11.9 are:
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| 11.11 | Examples of financial instruments that do not satisfy the conditions in paragraph 11.9 (and are therefore within the scope of Section 12) include:
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| Initial recognition of financial assets and liabilities | ||
| 11.12 | An entity shall recognise a financial asset or a financial liability only when the entity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. | Same. |
| Initial measurement | ||
| 11.13 | When a financial asset or financial liability is recognised initially, an entity shall measure it at the transaction price (including transaction costs except in the initial measurement of financial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value through profit or loss) unless the arrangement constitutes, in effect, a financing transaction. A financing transaction may take place in connection with the sale of goods or services, for example, if payment is deferred beyond normal business terms or is financed at a rate of interest that is not a market rate. If the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, the entity shall measure the financial asset or financial liability at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument. | Like IFRS SMEs, financial instruments other than derivatives and securities classified as available-for-sale or trading are measured initially at cost. Securities classified as trading or available-for-sale and instruments for which the fair value option through P&L has been elected are measured initially at fair value. Unlike IFRS SMEs, debt issue costs are generally deferred and amortized over the life of the debt. |
| Examples – financial assets | ||
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| Examples – financial liabilities | ||
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| Subsequent measurement | ||
| 11.14 | At the end of each reporting period, an entity shall measure financial instruments as follows, without any deduction for transaction costs the entity may incur on sale or other disposal: | |
| 11.14(a) | Debt instruments that meet the conditions in paragraph 11.8(b) shall be measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Paragraphs 11.15–11.20 provide guidance on determining amortised cost using the effective interest method. | Loans not held for sale and long-term receivables are measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method. However, unlike IFRS SMEs:
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| 11.14(a) | Debt instruments that are classified as current assets or current liabilities shall be measured at the undiscounted amount of the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received (ie net of impairment—see paragraphs 11.21–11.26) unless the arrangement constitutes, in effect, a financing transaction (see paragraph 11.13). |
Some short-term receivables and payables, for example trade receivables and payables, are measured at the undiscounted amount expected to be received or paid (i.e., net of impairment). Apparently unlike IFRS SMEs, other short-term receivables and payables, e.g., receivables and payables that were considered long-term at their inception, are measured at amortized cost. |
| 11.14(a) | If the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, the entity shall measure the debt instrument at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument. | Same. |
| 11.14(b) | Commitments to receive a loan that meet the conditions in paragraph 11.8(c) shall be measured at cost (which sometimes is nil) less impairment. | |
| 11.14(c) | Investments in non-convertible preference shares and non-puttable ordinary or preference shares that meet the conditions in paragraph 11.8(d) shall be measured as follows (paragraphs 11.27–11.33 provide guidance on fair value):
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Unlike IFRS SMEs. all passive investments in nonmarketable equity securities are accounted for under the cost method (except in certain specialized industries) Investments in nonconvertible preference shares and nonputtable ordinary shares and preference shares are classified into one of two categories: available-for-sale or trading. Trading securities are reported at fair value through P&L; available-for-sale securities are reported at fair value, generally through other comprehensive income (OCI). Unlike IFRS SMEs, cost is reduced by dividends received in excess of earnings subsequent to the date of investment. |
| Amortised cost and effective interest method | ||
| 11.15 | The amortised cost of a financial asset or financial liability at each reporting date is the net of the following amounts:
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| 11.16 | The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial asset or a financial liability (or a group of financial assets or financial liabilities) and of allocating the interest income or interest expense over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments or receipts through the expected life of the financial instrument or, when appropriate, a shorter period, to the carrying amount of the financial asset or financial liability. The effective interest rate is determined on the basis of the carrying amount of the financial asset or liability at initial recognition. Under the effective interest method:
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Unlike IFRS SMEs, the calculation of the effective interest rate is generally based on contractual cash flows over the financial instrument’s contractual life. For some financial instruments (e.g., loans), however, if estimated cash flows differ from contractual cash flows, the effective interest rate is based on expected rather than contractual cash flows, like IFRS SMEs. |
| 11.17 | When calculating the effective interest rate, an entity shall estimate cash flows considering all contractual terms of the financial instrument (eg prepayment, call and similar options) and known credit losses that have been incurred, but it shall not consider possible future credit losses not yet incurred. | |
| 11.18 | When calculating the effective interest rate, an entity shall amortise any related fees, finance charges paid or received (such as ‘points’), transaction costs and other premiums or discounts over the expected life of the instrument, except as follows. The entity shall use a shorter period if that is the period to which the fees, finance charges paid or received, transaction costs, premiums or discounts relate. This will be the case when the variable to which the fees, finance charges paid or received, transaction costs, premiums or discounts relate is repriced to market rates before the expected maturity of the instrument. In such a case, the appropriate amortisation period is the period to the next such repricing date. | Same. |
| 11.19 | For variable rate financial assets and variable rate financial liabilities, periodic re-estimation of cash flows to reflect changes in market rates of interest alters the effective interest rate. If a variable rate financial asset or variable rate financial liability is recognised initially at an amount equal to the principal receivable or payable at maturity, re-estimating the future interest payments normally has no significant effect on the carrying amount of the asset or liability. | |
| 11.20 | If an entity revises its estimates of payments or receipts, the entity shall adjust the carrying amount of the financial asset or financial liability (or group of financial instruments) to reflect actual and revised estimated cash flows. The entity shall recalculate the carrying amount by computing the present value of estimated future cash flows at the financial instrument’s original effective interest rate. The entity shall recognise the adjustment as income or expense in profit or loss at the date of the revision. | For financial assets, depending on the nature of the asset, changes may be reflected prospectively or retrospectively. None of the U.S. GAAP models are the equivalent of the IFRS SMEs cumulative-catch-up approach. |
| Impairment of financial instruments measured at cost or amortised cost | ||
| Recognition | ||
| 11.21 | At the end of each reporting period, an entity shall assess whether there is objective evidence of impairment of any financial assets that are measured at cost or amortised cost. If there is objective evidence of impairment, the entity shall recognise an impairment loss in profit or loss immediately. |
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| 11.22 | Objective evidence that a financial asset or group of assets is impaired includes observable data that come to the attention of the holder of the asset about the following loss events:
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| 11.23 | Other factors may also be evidence of impairment, including significant changes with an adverse effect that have taken place in the technological, market, economic or legal environment in which the issuer operates. | |
| 11.24 | An entity shall assess the following financial assets individually for impairment:
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| Measurement | ||
| 11.25 | An entity shall measure an impairment loss on the following instruments measured at cost or amortised cost as follows:
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Unlike IFRS SMEs, impairment of loans may be measured based on the loan’s observable market price or the fair value of collateral if the loan is collateral dependent. Regardless of the measurement method, measurement musdt be based on the fair value of the collateral when the creditor determines that foreclosure is probable. |
| Reversal | ||
| 11.26 | If, in a subsequent period, the amount of an impairment loss decreases and the decrease can be related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment was recognised (such as an improvement in the debtor’s credit rating), the entity shall reverse the previously recognised impairment loss either directly or by adjusting an allowance account. The reversal shall not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset (net of any allowance account) that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recognised. The entity shall recognise the amount of the reversal in profit or loss immediately. | Impairment writedowns may not be reversed. |
| Fair Value | ||
| 11.27 | Paragraph 11.14(c)(i) requires an investment in ordinary shares or preference shares to be measured at fair value if the fair value of the shares can be measured reliably. An entity shall use the following hierarchy to estimate the fair value of the shares:
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Same. |
| Valuation technique | ||
| 11.28 | Valuation techniques include using recent arm’s length market transactions for an identical asset between knowledgeable, willing parties, if available, reference to the current fair value of another asset that is substantially the same as the asset being measured, discounted cash flow analysis and option pricing models. If there is a valuation technique commonly used by market participants to price the asset and that technique has been demonstrated to provide reliable estimates of prices obtained in actual market transactions, the entity uses that technique. | |
| 11.29 | The objective of using a valuation technique is to establish what the transaction price would have been on the measurement date in an arm’s length exchange motivated by normal business considerations. Fair value is estimated on the basis of the results of a valuation technique that makes maximum use of market inputs, and relies as little as possible on entity-determined inputs. A valuation technique would be expected to arrive at a reliable estimate of the fair value if
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| No active market: equity instruments | ||
| 11.30 | The fair value of investments in assets that do not have a quoted market price in an active market is reliably measurable if
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Not applicable, except in specialized industries. |
| 11.31 | There are many situations in which the variability in the range of reasonable fair value estimates of assets that do not have a quoted market price is likely not to be significant. Normally it is possible to estimate the fair value of an asset that an entity has acquired from an outside party. However, if the range of reasonable fair value estimates is significant and the probabilities of the various estimates cannot be reasonably assessed, an entity is precluded from measuring the asset at fair value. | |
| 11.32 | If a reliable measure of fair value is no longer available for an asset measured at fair value (eg an equity instrument measured at fair value through profit or loss), its carrying amount at the last date the asset was reliably measurable becomes its new cost. The entity shall measure the asset at this cost amount less impairment until a reliable measure of fair value becomes available. | Not applicable. |
| Derecognition of a financial asset | ||
| 11.33 | An entity shall derecognise a financial asset only when:
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The derecognition model focuses on surrendering control over the transferred assets. Unlike IFRS SMEs, risks and rewards is not an explicit consideration when testing a transfer for derecognition, but rather derecognition is based on whether legal, actual, and effective control has been achieved. |
| 11.34 | If a transfer does not result in derecognition because the entity has retained significant risks and rewards of ownership of the transferred asset, the entity shall continue to recognise the transferred asset in its entirety and shall recognise a financial liability for the consideration received. The asset and liability shall not be offset. In subsequent periods, the entity shall recognise any income on the transferred asset and any expense incurred on the financial liability. | |
| 11.35 | If a transferor provides non-cash collateral (such as debt or equity instruments) to the transferee, the accounting for the collateral by the transferor and the transferee depends on whether the transferee has the right to sell or repledge the collateral and on whether the transferor has defaulted. The transferor and transferee shall account for the collateral as follows:
An entity sells a group of its accounts receivable to a bank at less than their face amount. The entity continues to handle collections from the debtors on behalf of the bank, including sending monthly statements, and the bank pays the entity a market-rate fee for servicing the receivables. The entity is obliged to remit promptly to the bank any and all amounts collected, but it has no obligation to the bank for slow payment or non-payment by the debtors. In this case, the entity has transferred to the bank substantially all of the risks and rewards of ownership of the receivables. Accordingly, it removes the receivables from its statement of financial position (ie derecognises them), and it shows no liability in respect of the proceeds received from the bank. The entity recognises a loss calculated as the difference between the carrying amount of the receivables at the time of sale and the proceeds received from the bank. The entity recognises a liability to the extent that it has collected funds from the debtors but has not yet remitted them to the bank. Example – transfer that does not qualify for derecognition The facts are the same as the preceding example except that the entity has agreed to buy back from the bank any receivables for which the debtor is in arrears as to principal or interest for more than 120 days. In this case, the entity has retained the risk of slow payment or non-payment by the debtors—a significant risk with respect to receivables. Accordingly, the entity does not treat the receivables as having been sold to the bank, and it does not derecognise them. Instead, it treats the proceeds from the bank as a loan secured by the receivables. The entity continues to recognise the receivables as an asset until they are collected or written off as uncollectible. |
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| Derecognition of a financial liability | ||
| 11.36 | An entity shall derecognise a financial liability (or a part of a financial liability) only when it is extinguished—ie when the obligation specified in the contract is discharged, is cancelled or expires. | Same. |
| 11.37 | If an existing borrower and lender exchange financial instruments with substantially different terms, the entities shall account for the transaction as an extinguishment of the original financial liability and the recognition of a new financial liability. | Same. |
| 11.37 | Similarly, an entity shall account for a substantial modification of the terms of an existing financial liability or a part of it (whether or not attributable to the financial difficulty of the debtor) as an extinguishment of the original financial liability and the recognition of a new financial liability. | Unlike IFRS SMEs, there are specific accounting requirements for troubled debt restructurings. |
| 11.38 | The entity shall recognise in profit or loss any difference between the carrying amount of the financial liability (or part of a financial liability) extinguished or transferred to another party and the consideration paid, including any non-cash assets transferred or liabilities assumed. | In a troubled debt restructuring, if the debt has been restructured by modification of its terms, or by transferring assets or equity interests in partial settlement and modifying the remaining terms, no gain is recognized unless the total undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the debt. Interest expense is revised prospectively over the revised term of the debt. |
| Other Matters | ||
| Defaults and breaches on loans payable | ||
| 11.47 | Debt covenant violations—Comment: IFRS SMEs requires disclosure of defaults and debt covenant violations, including whether the default or violation was remedied before the financial statements were authorized for issue. It is unclear, however, whether such disclosure is in addition to or in place of reclassification. Par. 4.1 requires presentation of “an entity’s assets, liabilities, and equity as of a specific date—the end of the reporting period.” Thus, curing a debt covenant violation after the balance sheet date may not eliminate the need to reclassify the debt. |
Debt covenant violations may be cured after the balance sheet date. |

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